


i can’t stop judging every thing you do (but i can’t get enough of you)

by not_always_sunny



Series: Etheria High School AU [2]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Friendship, Love Triangles, Pining, Unrequited Love, gay love triangles are complicated, poor glimmer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-06
Updated: 2019-08-06
Packaged: 2020-08-10 06:56:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20131201
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/not_always_sunny/pseuds/not_always_sunny
Summary: Glimmer’s worst nightmare smiled, carefully showing all of her pearly-white teeth. She leaned casually against the wall of the bleachers, the sunlight bouncing off her mane of dark hair and freckled copper skin. She looked like the very image of perfection.“Hey, Adora.”Adora took a step toward her. It was like she was drawn to her, like a moth to flame. That was only one of a hundred things Glimmer hated about Catra. “What are you doing here?”—aka a oneshot featuring crushes, jealously, cheerleading, and other fun high school tropes!





	i can’t stop judging every thing you do (but i can’t get enough of you)

**Author's Note:**

> Title is from “Upper West Side” by King Princess. Will all my oneshots be titled after King Princess songs? Probably.

“You’re going to do amazing, Glimmer,” Adora said, placing her hands firmly on her shoulders. “You’re going to ace this tryout.”

Glimmer took a deep breath and tried to steady herself. It was pretty much a pointless idea; Adora was  _ way  _ too cute to be anything but distracting. The crisp red of her football jacket made her grey eyes even more shiny, and the slight breeze kept pulling strands of blonde hair out of her tight ponytail.

“But what if I do terrible?” Glimmer asked, chewing on her lip. “What if I do so badly that they all laugh at me?”

Adora smiled, that radiant sunshine smile that could make anyone (particularly the girls of the school) fall at her feet. “You won’t. You’ll do so amazing, they’ll make you the star quarterback by the end of the season.”

That, at least, successfully dragged a laugh out of Glimmer — and Bow.

“Adora,” he said, “cheerleaders don’t have quarterbacks.”

“Oh. They don’t?”

“You’re the captain of the football team, how do you not know this?”

Adora shrugged. “I’ve been told that I’m oblivious.”

Glimmer sighed. Three years of pining over her dumb, sweet, adorable best friend and she had no clue. Oblivious was certainly one word for it.

“Oblivious is certainly one word for what you are,” a silky voice said behind them.

Adora whirled so fast, she almost hit Bow in the face with her ponytail. “ _ Catra _ ,” she hissed, the word filled with so much … emotion …. that she was practically spitting it out.

Glimmer’s worst nightmare smiled, carefully showing all of her pearly-white teeth. She leaned casually against the wall of the bleachers, the sunlight bouncing off her mane of dark hair and freckled copper skin. She looked like the very image of perfection.

“Hey, Adora.”

Adora took a step toward her. It was like she was drawn to her, like a moth to flame. That was only one of a hundred things Glimmer hated about Catra. “What are  _ you  _ doing here?”

The girl threw her head back and laughed. “Cheerleading tryouts, silly. It certainly would be hard to do that without the captain of the cheer team.”

Oh fuck. In Glimmer’s half-thought-out plan to get on the cheer team in order to one-up Catra and live out her teenage fantasies (“Yeah, my girlfriend’s a cheerleader,” Adora said frequently in her daydreams), she had forgotten that Catra would be  _ judging  _ the tryouts.

Fuck. She was fucked.

“Not for long,” Adora said proudly. “One day, you’ll meet someone will just as much cheerleading talent than you, if not more.” She cast a meaningful look at Glimmer.

Catra followed her gaze, narrowing her eyes. “Oh, I didn’t know  _ you _ were trying out, Sparkles.”

She puffed out her chest, directing the full force of her glare at Catra. “I  _ am _ .”

“Huh.” She let out a little laugh, which caused Adora to frown. “Good luck with that, princess.”

“Hey!” Bow interjected. “Glimmer will do  _ awesome  _ at her audition—tryout, thank you very much. Now why don’t you go and prepare for the tryouts  _ you’re _ leading?”

Catra gave what could only be described as a scoff. She hadn’t thought people actually  _ scoffed  _ in real life but apparently this girl was full of surprises. “Sure thing, Cupid. So long, losers.”

Bow blinked. “Cupid?”

“Yeah, like—like the hearts on a crop top, and you played that archer character in the last school play. Cupid. Get it?”

“Eh,” said Adora, deadpan. “I’ve heard better.”

“Wha—oh, shut  _ up _ .” She stepped forward lightly, so they were almost nose-to-nose. “Hey Adora, the cheerleaders each get to wear a player’s number for the homecoming game. Want me to request to wear yours? Or would your  _ girlfriend  _ —” She smirked at Glimmer. “—disapprove?”

Now it was Adora’s turn to blink. “My what?” She was blushing. Over what exactly was unclear.

Catra smirked, satisfied at the reaction. “Bye nerds,” she trilled, wiggling a few fingers at them as she sauntered onto the section of the football field reserved for cheerleading tryouts.

“Nerds?” Adora yelled after her. “ _ You’re  _ the nerd! You read  _ Pride and Prejudice  _ ten times! You carry around a messenger bag for fuck’s sake!”

“Can’t hear you!” Catra called back cheerfully.

“Adora,” Bow said tactfully, “you know that she’s only doing this to get a rise out of you, right?” This was a thing that had been said many times.

“I don’t care,” Adora responded. “She’s so … ugh!” This had also been said many times.

“Adora!” another voice shouted. They all turned to see Lonnie scowling at them. “Hurry up! Stop chatting and get over here! Tryouts are about to start!”

“Sorry Lonnie!” she shouted. She give Glimmer a quick hug and another beaming smile. “Good luck. You’re gonna do great. I gotta go run football tryouts now. Bye!” She waved as she jogged away toward Lonnie.

“Bye!” Bow shouted back.

Glimmer gave one last nervous sigh and straightened her jacket, which was emblazoned with the logo of her dance studio. At least she’d have an advantage over some of the others, since she’d taken ballet and acro for nine years.

“Hey,” Bow said, gripping her shoulders in much the same way Adora had just a few minutes earlier. “You’re gonna knock their socks off. Now get over there and show Catra who’s boss!”

“Yeah.” She leaned into Bow’s hug, breathing in the smell of his green apple perfume. Unlike Adora, Bow calmed her down and rooted her in the specific way of someone who had known her for a very, very long time, who had seen her at her very worst (middle school in particular came to mind). “Thank you.”

She stepped away reluctantly, pulling her jacket closer over her shoulders for warmth.

The cheer tryouts were being held on one end of the football field near the sidelines, the rest of the field being occupied by the football, lacrosse, soccer, and track teams. Glimmer sat down on the bleachers with the rest of the group. They all looked as nervous as she felt.

A piercing whistle split the air, and everyone’s eyes whipped immediately to Catra, standing atop the bench and holding a clipboard.

“So,” she said menacingly, “you all want to be cheerleaders.”

“Welcome to the family!” Scorpia, who flanked her on one side, beamed down at them all and clapped her hands. “I’m so happy to see so many new and exciting faces! I can’t wait to get to know you all! Let’s all give a cheer for Etheria High!”

Everyone gave an obligatory  _ whoop _ .

Catra glared sideways, clearly disgruntled at having her intimidating speech interrupted by the human equivalent of a golden retriever beside her. “This is Scorpia, my second-in-command. And this is Mermista. We’ll be our judges for who gets on the team … and who gets cut.” She raised an eyebrow at Glimmer, who bristled.

Mermista, on Catra’s other side, held up a hand. “Welcome to tryouts or whatever.” Her eyes also found Glimmer’s in the crowd. She gave a slight nod in recognition.

The corners of Glimmer’s mouth quirked up. At least she’d have one friendly face here, although Mermista would probably try and argue the “friendly” part of that statement.

Catra jumped gracefully off of the bench, landing on her feet. “You are going to be broken into three groups. I’ll lead one group, and Scorpia and Mermista will lead the other two. We’ll run through some cheers, chants, and routines, and at the end of it, we’ll come back together and see which of you have what it takes. Got it?”

When no one responded, she snapped again, “Got it?”

“Yes!” A few people called.

“Oh, come  _ on _ , where’s that cheerleading enthusiasm? I  _ said _ , GOT IT?”

“YES!” They all screamed back.

“Good. Now I’m counting you off. One, two, three, one, two, three, one, two — No, you’re a two, go over there with Scorpia — Scorpia! Raise your hand! — Three, one, two, three — Hey, you! Freshman! I see you trying to be in the same group as your friend! You’re a one, go over there! — One, two, three …”

Glimmer, unfortunately, ended up in Catra’s group. It seemed that whoever was up there running the universe was not feeling too kindly towards her today.

Catra swaggered over to their group, one hand on her hip. “Alright, listen up. This cheer is relatively simple, so pay attention. I won’t repeat myself. It starts off ‘E! H! S!’ like this …”

The group was arranged in rows, with Catra in front of them all to demonstrate. She had the ones with the experience stand in the front, and everyone without stood in the back. Glimmer chose a position in the middle, certain enough in her abilities but not  _ that  _ certain.

The cheers were actually relatively easy, and Glimmer had to begrudgingly admit that Catra was a good teacher, albeit a bit snippity. She was also a good cheerleader, which was unsurprising. There was something captivating about the way she moved, something light and cheerful and carefree that seemed totally at odds with her personality.

Glimmer tried to mimic her movements, watching the way her hips seemed to sway in perfect rhythm and how her feet barely seemed to touch the ground. For some reason, looking at Catra made her stomach twist, clench.

Adora had said once that Catra was like a storm: dangerous and unpredictable. Glimmer had grinded her teeth together at the look on her friend’s face, the way she said  _ dangerous  _ and clearly meant  _ beautiful. _ But now, she understood.

Catra wasn’t just a storm, she was lightning itself. Snapping and crackling and bright. Dangerous and beautiful, dangerous  _ because  _ she was beautiful. No wonder Adora was so obsessed with her.

Glimmer hated her. Glimmer hated her. Glimmer—

Catra whirled around suddenly and their gaze met, probably by accident. Her multicolored eyes widened ever-so-slightly, before they narrowed again. Then she whipped her head towards a girl in the front row.

“Okay, stop,” Catra gave another teeth-filled smile. “Who can tell me what Flutterina here is doing wrong?”

The girl in question flushed angrily. “I’m not doing anything wrong! What are you even saying!”

Catra picked idly at a nail. “Wrong. You’re unfocused. Distracted. You keep staring across the field towards the football players, and because of that, you’ve missed three cues and stepped with the wrong foot four times.”

Flutterina turned even redder. “But—I was not—but…”

“Mmhmm.”

“Who said it was okay for you to call me out like this in front of everyone? How is that fair? Maybe I was just bored because this routine is easy! It’s so mind-numbing that—”

“Enough!” Something changed in Catra then, the relaxed coil of her shoulders vanishing in an instant as her chin jutted forward and her footsteps became heavier, more pronounced.

She stopped just inches away from Flutterina’s face. “Listen. Here on my team, we take things seriously. You listen when you’re told, you put a hundred percent effort in at all times, you do not complain. And we do _not_ get sidetracked. No one will take any of our attention away from the things that are truly important. I don’t care how cute or heroic or distracting or—whatever those football players are. _I don’t give a fuck_.”

Catra paused, breathing heavy. She cleared her throat and licked her lips before continuing. “If you can’t agree to those rules, then get out of my tryouts. I won’t tell you again.”

Flutterina glared right back. “This isn’t—this isn’t fair. You’re a tyrant, Catra. A tyrant.” Then she turned and ran off of the field, wiping her face furiously.

Catra turned back to the group. “Anyone want to go with her?” she sneered. Nobody moved an inch.

“Good. Now, we are all going to rejoin as one group and you will each get to demonstrate your skills and what you’ve learned individually in front of me, Scorpia, and Mermista. Understood?”

As they walked back towards the bleachers, a girl leaned toward Glimmer and whispered, “Damn, that really hit a sore spot for Catra, huh?”

Glimmer nodded, not sure why she felt wrong—no, not wrong. Weird. She wasn’t sure why she felt weird saying, “Yeah, I, uh, I have no idea why she went off like that. Strange.”

They were directed to go up one by one in alphabetical order. While each person performed, the judges whispered amongst themselves and scribbled things on Catra’s clipboard.

When Glimmer was called up, she felt a return of the nerves like a kick to the chest. It was a wonder she made it from the bleachers to in front of the benches without throwing up all over the newly-redone turf field.

Catra smirked. “You can begin when you’re ready.”

Glimmer closed her eyes and took a deep, long breath. She could hear her dance teacher (and aunt) Castaspella in her mind, telling her to relax and give into the motion. “Let your body take over and put your brain on the backburner,” she said often.

Put your brain on the backburner. Okay, Glimmer could do that. Glimmer, the chronic overthinker, could just shut off her brain and—

“Whenever you’re ready,” repeated Catra. She could practically hear the satisfied smirk at seeing her fail.

Glimmer snapped her eyes open and shrugged her shoulders. She could do this. She  _ would  _ do this. Whatever else happened, she would not give Catra the satisfaction of running away with her head hung low. She began the routine.

The dance portion was probably her best performance ever. Castaspella would have been beside herself if she’d seen. She felt like she didn’t so much as transition from pose to pose, instead flowing effortlessly, in one place one minute and another the next.

She poured her heart out in the moves, pushing out all of her frustration with Catra and Adora and herself. It was like it all vanished into the air, leaving nothing but her dance.

She finished with the cheer, loud and bright and triumphant. Each step was firm, sure of herself. Maybe she’d never move as light as Catra, but she’d be just as good in a different way. She thrust the pom-poms she’d been given into the air like a punch, before taking a bow.

Catra and Scorpia and Mermista stayed in their whispered huddle for a long time afterward. They were clearly having an argument. Glimmer could easily guess who was on what side.

Eventually the huddle broke apart, and Catra gave her a long, unreadable look. “Good job,” she said begrudgingly. “You have talent, Sparkles.”

Scorpia grinned, a smile that lacked all of the cruelty that was so prominent in Catra. The two of them really were polar opposites. Glimmer wondered how they’d ever become best friends. She also wondered if people thought the same when they saw her and Adora and Bow.

“You could be the perfect flyer we’ve been missing!” said Scorpia. “Fantastic!”

Catra flicked her eyes upward for a brief second, maybe searching for some patience. “We’ll see. Alright, who’s next?”

The rest of tryouts passed in a blur.  _ Please, please _ , Glimmer begged every possible higher power that could exist.  _ Please let me get on the cheer team. Pleeeeeeeease. _

After what seemed like forever and five minutes simultaneously, Catra blew her whistle again. Maybe she used that thing because it gave her some kind of sadistic pleasure seeing everyone jump. That seemed likely, Glimmer thought.

Catra pulled out the list of team members with much drama, clearly savoring the tension she’d created. With slow, lazy fingers, she carefully unfolded the paper, making a big show of tapping her fingernail against each name. The group rustled and shifted, shivering in anticipation.

Finally, Catra looked over at them with an almost-practiced indifference. “The members of the Etheria High cheer team are…”

Glimmer chewed on a nail as Catra rattled off the names, crossing her fingers on her other hand.  _ Please, please _ …

“...and Glimmer. Thank you all for your time. I’ll see the cheer team on Monday for our first practice. Or else.” At this, she winked, and few people laughed nervously, not quite sure if she was kidding.

Glimmer stumbled off the bleachers in a shocked daze. She did it. She actually did it. She was an actual cheerleader now. She couldn’t wait to tell her mom, to tell Bow—

“GLIMMER YOU DID IT YOU MADE IT!”

“I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT!”

Adora almost bowled her over in her excitement, sweeping her up in a tight hug, swinging her in a circle. Her feet barely grazed the ground as they spun around and around, over and over again.

“I’m a cheerleader!”

“You’re a cheerleader!”

Glimmer laughed and laughed. Everything was bright and sunny and slightly off-kilter. She was punch-drunk on exhilaration and the smell of Adora’s two-in-one shampoo. She was on top of the world. And then—

“Hey, Adora.”

Adora almost dropped her, startled. Glimmer struggled to push down the massive wave of jealousy that overcame her as Adora pulled away, fixated as always on Catra. Always Catra. Why was it always Catra?

The devil herself was leaning against the wall of the bleachers, right where she’d been before the tryouts had begun. It was like nothing had changed.

Catra smiled, beautiful even with her dark mane sticky with sweat from doing cheer routines in the sun. She had thrown a dark leather jacket with patches on it over her cheer t-shirt, the difference clashing in a way that was somehow fashionable and attractive.

She wiggled a finger, and Adora stepped towards her as if she had been born to do so. As if being next to Catra was what she was destined to do. Catra whispered something to her, her eyes mischievous and sparkling. Adora leaned forward, whispering something fierce back.

Glimmer stared at them, wishing both that she could hear what they were saying and that it wasn’t happening at all. Catra said something else and Adora stepped back, clearly affronted. Yet, she didn’t walk away. She never walked away.

Instead Catra was the one to step away, slinging one last retort over her shoulder. Glimmer watched her hips sway slightly as she stepped. She watched Adora stand still, thunderstruck. She watched Catra tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She watched Adora touch a finger to her flushed cheeks.

And in that moment, Glimmer didn’t know who she was jealous of.

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a high school au series. I’m hoping to do a oneshot focusing on each character! This one is set three years after the first oneshot (tell me why my gods look like you), so the characters are in their junior year in this one and in freshman year in TMWMGLLY.
> 
> Flutterina is a character from the original She-Ra who hasn’t appeared in the reboot yet.
> 
> If you enjoyed this, feel free to like and leave a kudos! Also, my tumblr is @not-always-sunny so feel free to hmu!


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